Ruhrtal nature reserve

Ruhrtal nature reserve in the Altes Feld area with renaturation

The Ruhr Valley nature reserve with a size of 445.3 hectares is located in Arnsberg in the Hochsauerland district . It was designated as a nature reserve (NSG) by the Hochsauerlandkreis in 1998 with the Arnsberg landscape plan. It starts at the city limits of Meschede in the southeast and goes to the city limits in the north of Ense . It divides the city in half. In addition to the continuous main area, there are four secondary areas which are separated from the main area by traffic areas. In the municipality of Ense, the Ruhraue nature reserve (district of Soest) is directly connected . Settlement areas are sometimes directly connected to the NSG and numerous bridges cross it. The NSG is also partly part of the 525 ha FFH area Ruhr . This FFH area Ruhr comprises a total of 15 near-natural sections of the Ruhr between Winterberg and Fröndenberg .

Area description

The NSG is about the Ruhr and its floodplain in the Arnsberg urban area.

The extensive renaturation measures of the city of Arnsberg, the successful reintroduction of the fish species nose and burbot and the increase in the attractiveness of the landscape in the project "Making the Ruhr in Arnsberg livable and lovable for people and nature" were named in 2013 and 2019 as part of the UN Decade of Biological Diversity. Excellent project of the UN Decade of Biological Diversity ”.

Protection purpose

The NSG is supposed to protect the Ruhr and its floodplain with species inventory. As with all nature reserves in Germany, the protection designation indicated that the area was declared a nature reserve “because of the rarity, special character and beauty of the area”.